The courage to BE resides in the God who arrives when God disappears; the 'I' that arrives when 'I' disappears.

Indian Film Favourites

TAMIL FILM OVERVIEW:

The 1980s marked the peak for filmmakers Barathiraja, K Balachandar, K Bhagyaraja, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao and Balu Mahendra who established the uniqueness of Modern Tamil Cinema. At the end of the 80s, Mani Ratnam entered the arena with a freshness in style and perspective.

During the 1990s, S Shankar, Suresh Krishna, K.S Ravikumar, Bharathan, P Vasu, Udhaya Kumar and Agathyan made their mark, although the phenomenal influence of the 80s was obvious, these filmmakers worked more to enhance the technicality of filmmaking. The older filmmakers, despite their legacy and might of storytelling, seemed to have lost their touch. Yet it was Mani Ratnam that took tamil films into the new Millenium.

In the following decade, Kamal Hassan made a reckoning directorial debut, quickly followed by a new breed of filmmakers – Gautham Menon, Bala, Ameer Sultan, K Selvaraghavan, Cheran, S J Suryah, Sasi Shankar, N Linguswamy, Hari, Balaji Shaktivel, Dharani, A R Murugadoss, Radha Mohan, Myshkin, Vishnuvardhan and Vetrimaran. The new breed had split into two dominant kinds of filmmaking – one, the rough, raw emotional grit… and two, the “against-all-odds” entertainer. The identity of the Tamilian seems to be in a state of confusion, grappling between tradition and modernism. Ever since Bala made the tragic ending fashionable, filmmakers compete now for the most pessimistic tragedy they can manufacture, seemingly more for style than substance.

The decade is now at an end… and we stand at the outskirts of a new revolution.

24/03/2010, As a recent update on the evolution of Tamil Cinema, read this wonderful appreciation letter from K Balachander to Gautham Menon here.

One of the few good things left about film is this passion… that sometimes seems to reveal itself only ever so rarely.

Otherwise, it gets mostly mixed up in anecdotes and referential humor. But Balachandar, he sums it up beautifully. In the end, the only lasting or powerful effects of film making come out of an intrinsic sense of belief – way past the hypocrisy that has vomited all over it – a sense of belief in the power of the story that is worthwhile enough… even if it appears once in a blue blue moon.

All the great personalities of the past that we remember to this day… people who existed millenia ago. It is their strength that lived on – a strength of belief (in right or wrong)… in the same way, despite that the film industry is raping itself for the most part, and is largely superficial… underneath all that vomit… there are still a few … very few… people who believe – in themselves, in life. This is also what Balachandar was talking about. Think about it.

Still, it is as quickly buried under confused reviews and our own outrage often enough… but it doesn’t fail to affect those who had just… a little… bit of faith.

All hope is never lost. 🙂 Walk your own path! Create your niche! But you have to do it for more than just fame… fame also dies with you – as history reveals. Only your belief lives on.